most tournaments don't require you to be a pdga member... i think A tiers do, though (and those are the biggest). however, it's an extra 5 dollars to play pdga tournaments that will let non members play.

from my experience playing a few tournaments, they help a lot for improving your game. nothing like learning how to hold it together for 4 whole rounds over the course of a weekend to improve your mental game and course management skills.

you'll probably start in the AM2 (aka: intermediate) division. then move up to AM1 (aka: advanced). then open.
if you're female or 40+ years old, you could start in advanced womens, or advanced masters instead of AM2.

i'm not sure exactly how ratings are calculated but it's based on how tough the course is (determined by the scores that day) and how well you do. the average of all your round ratings is your player rating, i believe.

to play an a-tier and above event you must be a PDGA member. any other pdga sanctioned event you can play without a pdga number but it will cost you 5 dollars more. i look at it this way(i am a non member): i play 6 sanctioned events a year thats 30 extra dollars. not 40 for a pdga membership. i don't think the pdga gives me enough incentive to be a member. now when i become a good enough player to play open i will become a member. but as for now the PDGA is a rip off, a number and player ratings aren't worth what people make them out to be.

I, like Rooster, play at most 3 to 6 sanctioned events a year, but I joined anyway to support the PDGA and disc golf in general. I doubt that I will ever go pro, or even play Open/Pro in sanctioned events...it's just not where my motivation for playing disc golf lies. But I did find it important to support disc golf somehow, and being counted as a member of the sport's governing body seemed to be the least I could do.

Plus, I got a disc, a mini, stickers and a quarterly magazine.

sleepy

sleepy wrote:I sleepy, do hereby commit to use the Comet as my main midrange disc for a period of no less than one (1) year; commencing 11/24/09 and ending (if I so choose) on 11/24/10.

I joined this year. I thought I'd get to enough tournaments to make it worth my money. I didn't. I agree w/ sleepy, but probably will let my membership slide until the year after next when I have time to get to more tourneys.

When I first discovered the PDGA, I was very excited. I saw it as a chance to interact with professional dg'ers and a place for me to better my skills as a disc golfer.

The members of the PDGA of course were all for people joining even those of us that do not really participate in tournaments. The beliefs that they expressed were that whether or not I do tournaments, I should support a sport I love.

However, I have had many negative experiences from the PDGA. They look down on the amatuer player. I suppose I should use the term recreational player to describe myself and other like me since there is an amateur division.

Furthermore, the pdga forum became nothing but flaming and sarcasm, jmanufacturers trying to sell their product, and/or sponsored players trying to earn or justify their sponsorship. I also want to point out that many pro players have been very cordial and helpful, but in my case this is the exception, not the rule.

The best choice for me was NOT to join even though I had my check ready with the envelop addressed. I'm not sure how involved with tournaments you are, but you can play tournaments (I did this summer) without being a member. For those that claim that I should join to support the sport my response is: Every time I take a new person out and show them the game; each time I have seen a child (or adult) trying to throw a whammo in the basket and I have said "here try this" and given them one of my discs; and every time I buy frisbees to replace those I have given away or just to try a new disc, I am supporting the sport. Afterall, I don't have to join the NBA or NFL to support those sports, nor have I ever been asked to by their members.

TexasOutlaw wrote:Every time I take a new person out and show them the game; each time I have seen a child (or adult) trying to throw a whammo in the basket and I have said "here try this" and given them one of my discs; and every time I buy frisbees to replace those I have given away or just to try a new disc, I am supporting the sport. Afterall, I don't have to join the NBA or NFL to support those sports, nor have I ever been asked to by their members.

TexasOutlaw wrote:Every time I take a new person out and show them the game; each time I have seen a child (or adult) trying to throw a whammo in the basket and I have said "here try this" and given them one of my discs; and every time I buy frisbees to replace those I have given away or just to try a new disc, I am supporting the sport. Afterall, I don't have to join the NBA or NFL to support those sports, nor have I ever been asked to by their members.

This is the other side of the coin, and is equally as important in growing the sport...I help run our local Junior Disc Golf League for this very reason.

However, there HAS to be a strong prescence in the form of a single, unifying body that governs and promotes the sport and shows people that dammit we're serious about this! Even if you don't care whether or not disc golf is on ESPN one day, or in the Olympics...imagine something as simple as not having baskets stolen, more cooperative Parks Dept's, more funding for bigger and better courses, etc. Even if indirectly, the PDGA furthurs this goal by giving disc golf an air of accreditation in the eyes of politicians, sponsors, etc.

The most common response I hear when telling people about disc golf other than 'Wait, you do what?' is
'Wait, there's actually a Professional Disc Golf Association?! I thought you had to be high/drunk to play that...'

sleepy

sleepy wrote:I sleepy, do hereby commit to use the Comet as my main midrange disc for a period of no less than one (1) year; commencing 11/24/09 and ending (if I so choose) on 11/24/10.

I am not a member (almost joined in january, now I realized I havent had the $ to play many tourneys much less any sacntioned ones) however I am planning on becoming a member next year. I would love to play worlds, thats enough of a reason. I also would like to start building a rating (although i know that ratings are not very well balanced across the country).

Thatdirtykid wrote:and I cant wait to join the bitch&whine-a-thon of the pdga forum

I considered that to be one of the reasons I joined. But I haven't even bothered to get my password off my card so I can post there. I like this place much better.

\

Yeah I was bummed when they did not allow anyone but members to post, not only because I liked asking questions and getting help, but because I feel that I should help newcomers as much as I can.

This place is certainly better than the afore mentioned whine of the week club.

To the poster, not only do I not care if there is disc on Espn, but I don't really care whether I play in a tournament. What makes it relaxing to me and stress-relieving is not doing a tournament, but throwing the disc at a basket. As far as I can tell, the course here (and I think in many cases) was established by the city; the city put up the baskets; took one down when we were crossing a fence, and replaced it elsewhere.

When our signs were damaged, we the players replaced them, not the PDGA. When we wanted to double the chains, we the players did it by have people pick a basket and either donating the cash to have it done or doing it ourself; once again I saw no PDGA intervention. And actually, it was we the players that sanded some of the courses. The only ones of us that do belong to the PDGA are those that play tournaments (which we have to travel for).

PDGA...PROFESSIONAL disc golf association. I am proud to be a devout recreationalist, and to anyone that wants to call me a professional I say, "please sir do not thwart my love for this game by attaching such an arbitrary title."